Archive Session: Remembering Geri Allen on The Checkout

The great pianist, composer and educator Geri Allen passed away yesterday from cancer. In 2010, Allen sat down at our Steinway B for an intimate solo studio session and conversation with former host of The Checkout, Josh Jackson.

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31:12

Geri Allen plays solo in a WBGO Studio Session. Recorded 7/7/2010.

In the program, Allen opens up about growing up in Detroit with two jazz-loving and encouraging parents, both of whom are honored during this session in musical fashion. Plus, she performs tributes to two of her piano heroes: Hank Jones and McCoy Tyner. And we hear Allen's thoughtful response to the question: "What does it mean to live with music?" We will all miss you, Geri.

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Geri Allen, a widely influential jazz pianist, composer and educator who defied classification while steadfastly affirming her roots in the hard-bop tradition of her native Detroit, died on Tuesday in Philadelphia. She was 60, and lived for the last four years in Pittsburgh.

The cause was cancer, said Ora Harris, her manager of 30 years. The news shocked Allen’s devoted listeners as well as her peers, and the many pianists she directly influenced.